If she knew how funny she looks, she wouldn't be so happy

[wrldlygrrl]

Need help-have a serious case of cross beak and don't know what to do about it! I prepare mush that she will eat, she scoops chick starter and water, is not growing nearly as fast as her nest mates are...

 

[wren]

She needs the food to be in a dish that is fairly deep and keep it full so she can scoop it into her mouth. Some people tube feed chickens with cross beaks. Good Luck!

 

[coloradochick]

poor sweetie. So glad she's eating even a little though

 

[mljohnson05]

Quote:
Agree she needs it in a deep dish and FULL, sometimes it has to be "soft" all the time.
I had one that we actually took a file and filed the beak (top and bottom) so that it was more even and it could eat better

 

[JosieChick]

I have an easter egger that has a terrible cross beak, her lower beak sticks out at a 90 degree angle from her face. In my experience she does best with a big bowl of wet mushy feed. I check the consistency with her in the morning when I put it in and she will chirp at me if it isn't just right for eating! She has to have baths to keep the food washed off her head and neck too. I would not personally recommend trimming, I tried that once and despite being very careful I wound up with a sore beaked bird for a few days. She is smaller than the rest but she gets around just fine and seems happy as a clam. Her favorite treats are warm oatmeal (which her spoiled behind gets every morning) and canned baby foods on top of her slop. Nobody tells them they look different!!

 

[wrldlygrrl]

I am pretty sure filing is not an option, as the angle of her beak is almost 90 degrees. One thing I have had to do is put her in time out, a pet carrier that is in the coop, for these feedings, as the rest of the flock is so much more adept at polishing off her mush before she can get her belly full! At first, she freaked...the figured it out-time out=treat! The others have figured it out, too and do everything they can to get in that carrier! It is hilarious to watch!